93 Decision Citation: BVA 93-11706
Y93
BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20420
DOCKET NO. 92-04 253 ) DATE
)
)
)
THE ISSUES
1. Entitlement to service connection for schizophrenia.
2. Entitlement to an increased rating for a postoperative
left knee disability, currently evaluated as 20 percent
disabling.
REPRESENTATION
Appellant represented by: The American Legion
WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL
Appellant
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD
C. Lawson, Associate Counsel
INTRODUCTION
The appellant, a veteran, served on active duty from
February 1972 to November 1973. The Department of Veterans
Affairs) (VA) Winston-Salem, North Carolina, regional office
(RO) denied service connection for schizophrenia in
September 1989 and granted a temporary total rating for the
appellant's service-connected left knee disability under 38
C.F.R. § 4.30 (1992) in December 1989, effective from July
19, 1989, through August 1989. A notice of disagreement was
received in May 1990. A statement of the case (SOC) was
issued in May 1990. A substantive appeal was received in
May 1990. A hearing was held at the RO in July 1990, and a
hearing officer's decision of August 1990 continued the
denials. A supplemental SOC was issued in August 1990.
Rating decisions denied additional benefits in December 1990
and March 1991, and supplemental SOC's were issued in
December 1990 and April 1991. An April 1991 decision
granted temporary total ratings under 38 C.F.R. § 4.30
effective from February 13 and April 1, 1991, through August
1991, in association with the appellant's left knee
disability. A rating decision extended the temporary total
rating through November 1991 in October 1991. It also
denied an increased schedular rating for the left knee
disability and continued the denial of service connection
for schizophrenia. A supplemental SOC was issued in October
1991. In January 1992, a rating decision continued the
denial of service connection for schizophrenia and continued
the denials of additional entitlement for the left knee on a
schedular basis and under 38 C.F.R. § 4.30. The case was
received and docketed at the Board of Veterans' Appeals
(Board) in April 1992. The American Legion represents the
appellant on appeal and furnished an informal brief in May
1992.
REMAND
The appellant has had several surgical procedures for his
left knee recently. A VA examination was scheduled, but it
had to be cancelled due to treatment the appellant was
receiving. A request has been made for another VA
orthopedic examination, to evaluate the disability after
surgery in a recovered status, and the Board believes that
one would be appropriate prior to its final review. The
appellant has moved several times over the past few years,
and he may be obtaining ongoing treatment for his left knee
disability since November 1991, which is the date of the
last VA treatment records contained in the claims folder.
The VA's duty to assist him includes obtaining relevant
medical records. Ivey v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 320 (1992).
Regarding psychiatric disability, the appellant has stated
that he first received treatment for psychiatric disability
after service in 1979, with court knowledge, and he states
that it took place in New York. Evidence on file shows
other VA treatment at Winston-Salem and Durham, North
Carolina, in 1979 and New York and Brooklyn, New York, in
1981. Additionally, he states that he was hospitalized and
received treatment for nerves in a service hospital in
Germany in September or November 1972.
The case is REMANDED to the RO for the following action:
1. The RO should make an appropriate
request for service medical records of
treatment the appellant may have received
in Frankfurt, Germany, at the 97th Army
General Hospital (APO 09757) while in the
Army between September and December 1972.
The appellant should be requested to
identify the health care facility where he
first received treatment for psychiatric
pathology in 1979, and the VA facility(ies)
from which he has received treatment for
his left knee since November 1991. The RO
should then obtain any corresponding
records and incorporate them into the
claims folder.
2. Thereafter, a VA orthopedic examination
should be conducted to determine and
describe the nature, extent, and severity
of the appellant's service-connected
postoperative left knee disability. All
indicated tests and studies should be
conducted, and all pertinent findings,
positive and negative, should be reported
in detail, in accordance with the VA
Physician's Guide for Disability Evaluation
Examinations. The claims folder should be
made available to the examiner prior to the
examination.
Thereafter, the RO should further develop, if necessary, and
then review the appellant's claims. If any action remains
adverse to the appellant, the case should be returned to
this Board in accordance with the usual appellate
procedures, unless he specifically withdraws his appeal. No
action is required of the appellant until he is further
informed. The purpose of this REMAND is to assist the
appellant per 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107 (West 1991). No inference
is to be drawn regarding the final disposition of the
claims.
BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20420
*
JAMES R. ANTHONY (MEMBER TEMPORARILY ABSENT)
SAMUEL W. WARNER
*38 U.S.C.A. § 7102(a)(2)(A) (West 1991) permits a Board of
Veterans' Appeals Section, upon direction of the Chairman of
the Board, to proceed with the transaction of business
without awaiting assignment of an additional Member to the
Section when the Section is composed of fewer than three
Members due to absence of a Member, vacancy on the Board or
inability of the Member assigned to the Section to serve on
the panel. The Chairman has directed that the Section
proceed with the transaction of business, including the
issuance of decisions, without awaiting the assignment of a
third Member.
Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 1991), only a decision of the
Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United
States Court of Veterans Appeals. This remand is in the
nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a
decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal.